It's been a long year since Soarin and Braeburn went their separate ways, and somehow every opportunity for the two to meet up was canned in one way or another. While they keep in touch through their letters, until one day Braeburn's stop arriving.

Life isn't interesting for Caramel, as nothing interesting ever happens. Friends were rare. By that he means rarely a reality. He had adjusted to this routine and reached a somewhat comfortable spot in life. Then along came Big Macintosh.

In the wake of Soarin's flight accident during a show weeks after his expected recovery, he happens to meet an earth pony named Braeburn. As his world falls around him and the debris from above come crashing down, he finds a bit of joy in the o

It's been a long year since Soarin and Braeburn went their separate ways, and somehow every opportunity for the two to meet up was canned in one way or another. While they keep in touch through their letters, until one day Braeburn's stop arriving.

Braeburn Apple has always been raised in a conservative household, as a member of the Apple family.Throughout his life, he's been taught what's 'wrong' and what's 'right', who he was allowed to love, and who he wasn't. Above all, he was told what to be, and how to be it.When he meets a certain blue Pegasus stallion buying pies at Sweet Apple Acres while he just so happens to be staying there, he discovers feelings he never knew he had. Unfortunately, they happen to be the same ones he was always taught to suppress. Can Soarin convince him that it's not wrong to be in love, and that, sometimes, in order to be happy, you need to break out of your comfort zone?A story about discovering who you are, and being that person, no matter what others tell you to be.

WARNING: M/M, SoarinxBraeburn Coltcuddling! Touches up on some serious social issues in the real world, but with ponies, and at least 20% cooler.If you don't like it, please do not read it.

Nice. Not many fics focus on the other side of the other side of the fence. Bromances can be just as good imo, and this one certainly is! The first person perspective adds a bit of depth you just cant get in third. The only thing I could bring up is that Granny Smith's and his dads reaction. it seemed a bit knee jerk, but I suppose if you are trying to portray them that way, you're on the right track. Also toward the beginning I was a little confused about where they were, whether Braeburn went to visit AJ and Big Mac or whether AJ and Big mac had come to visit him. I was reading it late though so I may have just been tired and skipped over that part by accident. other than that, awesome. I'll withhold my rating for now, but if I had to slap one on it it'd easily be 4.5-5. leaning towards 5.

I'm not gay, but this has given me some perspective. It's cute and romantic. I love the writing and the character interaction, although I don't really see Apple Jack's young personality as how you described it. Good Job!

113345My apologies, its just that my writing cage gets kind of cold after a while...Chapter 21 is ready to go, all I'm waiting on is for my pre-reader to do his thing and it'll be posted, assuming he doesn't have IRL stuff to do. Either tonight or tomorrow I swear!

I'd like to adress that issue a bit-(naturally i can't speak for others but that goes without saying. Anyway, here goes..)I often add the 'I'm not gay'-tag when adding my piece of mind to such conversations.The reason NOT being to distance myself from them but rather to stop people in their tracks who go by the lines of "You take a pro-homo point. Therefor You must be gay. Furtheremore therefor, what other can be expected of you. Now that we have established your reasons to add your point, we have no longer reason to listen to your actual reasoning."

You see, when actually asking what the big deal is about the whole uproar (as demonstated very, VERY nicely in the fic!), people really seldom get past anything that can not be summed up as "its unnatural".And I hate that.Seriously do. When pretending you thought about something you should be able to come up with better logic than that.So I guess you guys understand why I want these buggers give as less 'goes without saying'-ground as possible.

I want to really, really congratulate you on so nice and unmistakeably capturing the whole point of the whole'no reasons needed'- crap. You can pull that card when getting into your kids not to chew on power cables, granted.But when, and expecially when discussing sexuality, it is an inacceptably low standard in discussion-culture (for want of a better word) when adressing adults and simply brutal when used on kids(Inbetween I'm not sure, most likely both), since as in this case, he has no idea whatsoever what he is being punished for.And when trying to find out (by the only to him know means- asking the older ones) the process just repeats.Likely until: -he submits and keeps telling himself from then on that its his fault for not knowing for the start or-gives up asking, likely VERY confused and not a reason richer than what he started with (as in = 0).-And if he's very lucky: stalling the decision which to choose till he finds someone to actually talk to (and back) and/or make up his own mind in time.I think that people have not enought idea that the approach above your by-the-book 'beating into submission'.Which sickens me since Braeburn's parents FOR SURE think they are doing him a favor in the long run.. *sigh*

5 / 5 Stars!

Oh, and sorry for the over-long rant you know, just for the sake of completion.

I really like this story, it's surprisingly believable for some reason that I can't put my finger on. Something about how simple the language is, along with the first person perspective makes it very involving, I really enjoyed this!

Not sure about the first person perspective... I can't say I've ever read a first person fic before. Still, you certainly have my attention. Hell, it was only the first chapter and you already had me nervous about how things would turn out for Braeburn. Yup, you've got my attention, and my track.

The way that this is being told... I like it a lot. I'm not normally a romance kind of guy, and I really hope that this doesn't turn into clopfic (please don't), but I really like it so far. Things just flow off the tongue (I tend to read fic aloud and in voices/accents for effect) very well, and I like Braeburn as a character.